declension

[ dih-klen-shuhn ]
See synonyms for declension on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Grammar.

    • the inflection of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives for categories such as case and number.

    • the whole set of inflected forms of such a word, or the recital thereof in a fixed order.

    • a class of such words having similar sets of inflected forms: the Latin second declension.

  2. an act or instance of declining.

  1. a bending, sloping, or moving downward: land with a gentle declension toward the sea.

  2. deterioration; decline.

  3. deviation, as from a standard.

Origin of declension

1
1400–50; late Middle English declenson, declynson (with suffix later assimilated to -sion), by stress retraction and syncope <Old French declinaison<Latin dēclīnātiōdeclination

Words Nearby declension

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British Dictionary definitions for declension

declension

/ (dɪˈklɛnʃən) /


noun
  1. grammar

    • inflection of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives for case, number, and gender

    • the complete set of the inflections of such a word: "puella" is a first-declension noun in Latin

  2. a decline or deviation from a standard, belief, etc

  1. a downward slope or bend

Origin of declension

1
C15: from Latin dēclīnātiō, literally: a bending aside, hence variation, inflection; see decline

Derived forms of declension

  • declensional, adjective
  • declensionally, adverb

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